Monday, August 29, 2011

This time, for the dude. I had been sent a regular tie that I needed to turn into something my 2 1/2 year old could wear. I found this tutorial from Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! and it was just perfect. I followed each step (and actually got to skip the "skinny-ing" step because the tie was already narrow enough that it would still look great on him)

I admit it was a little scary making that first cut into the tie, but it was worth it!

And I have to tell you, this guy was such a ham--he loved the camera and all the attention from all the family members we had around. Unfortunately my photography skills are mediocre at best, but I can't wait to see some of the shots the real photographer got!

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, check out some of his moves from the day before.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Please tell me I'm not the only one who "experiments" with new techniques or projects when there's a deadline!

I needed shoes for the girls to wear to the wedding, and missed out on all the sandal sales. It was too late in the season and stores were mostly out, and I didn't want to deal with online shopping. I found clearanced white canvas shoes at Walmart and snagged them up (got the last size left for Emily) I also purchased a bottle of black Rit dye. I was hoping to find gray, but they didn't have any.

And then the experiment. Sure, I'd seen pictures of dyed shoes before, but I was just hoping I could use the black to get a gray color. I lucked out! But not after a couple of scary moments.

I used a bucket in my bathtub to do the dying. I poured in some hot water and some of the dye and dropped the shoelaces in. I figured they'd be easy to replace if something disastrous happened. After about 15 minutes they looked pretty gray so I pulled them out, rinsed them, and they turned into a light lavender color. Hmm, not what I was going for. I poured in a little more dye and added the shoes. They soaked the color up really well and were only in the dye for about 2 minutes before I pulled them out. I rinsed them, and they looked great! It took lots of running water to rinse them out, but when they didn't seem to be losing any more color I set them outside to dry (after squeezing as much out as I could with paper towels)

I put the laces back in and left them for nearly an hour. They picked up a little more color, but not as much as the shoes. They looked great though, and totally worked with the outfits!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

I've always thought it was more important to actually *do* things than to blog about them. And I know I've at least held to that during this last month. I've been so busy! There hasn't been time to take pictures (or at least edit them) and then write up anything about them.

Not that you've been wondering where I've been, but here are a few quick pictures of some of my recent (and current) projects that you may see more of once I get around to the blog portion of my mass of hobbies.

Satin Bloom Clips

Painted Dresser

Stenciling Dresser Top

Wedding Card

And Not Pictured.......Boy tie from man's tie....My skirt for the wedding....Dyed canvas shoes for the girls

So, keep your eyes out for details on all these things later! It will give me something to do when the girls start up school. (In between all the fabulous mommy-son time I'll get to have!)